Eiectbic switchboard



H. F. KRANTZ.

ELECTRIC SWITCHBOARD.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.23, 191s.

Patented Dec. 16, 1919.

w m k w w WINVENTOR ATTORNEY UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICES I-IUBERT F. KRANTZ, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO KRANTZ MANUFACTUR- ING COMPANY, INC., 0F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

ELECTRIC SWITCHBOARD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 16, 1919.

Original application filed March 10, 1916, Serial No. 83,242. Divided and this application filed August 23,

1918. Serial 310.251.,078.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HUBERT F. KRANTZ, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Switchboards, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is a division of my copending application Serial No. 83,247, filed March 10, 1916, and is a continuation in part of my Patent 1,248,415, dated November 27, 1919. .It deals with an electric switch, and it proposes a very simple and compact mechanism of th type especially adapted for panel boxes and the like.

A primary object is to create an electric switch in which as few parts as possible can be used while yet affording every facility of operation and every degree of safety in point of usage.

A further purpose of this invention is to provide a simple switch system affording a direct connection from a bus-bar to a, branch-line termlnal by the use of a single switch element and without necessitating the employment of a multiplicity of contact elements. 1

Other objects will be in part obvious from the annexed drawings and in part indicated in connection therewith by the following analysis of this invention.

This invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of parts, and in the unique relations of the members and in the relative proportioning and disposition thereof, all as more completely outlined hereinf To enable others skilled in the art so fully to comprehend the underlying features thereof that they may embody the same by the numerous modifications in structure and relation contemplated by this invention, drawings depicting a preferred form have been annexed as a part of this-disclosure, and in such drawings, like characters of reference denote corresponding parts throughout all the views of which Figure 1 is a plan view of a panel box embodying this invention, and showing the method of application whereby branch-line gircuits may derive current from main busars.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an external plan of the box, and

Fig. 4 is a detail. v

In the drawings A indicates a base-board of insulating material which, together with the side walls, B and C, form a box or basin. Within this box are arranged a series of parallel bus-bars, X, Y and Z which are above the bottom so as to overlie the cross bars a, y and a with which they are respectively connected. These cross-bars lie on the baseboard A and terminate in proximity with the switch blades 1,2 and 3, preferably consisting of a plurality of copper laminations arranged in echelon as shown and adapted to be rotated about the axis 4. Branch-line terminals D, E and F are arranged on one side of the base-board A in opposition with the respective cross-bars 00, y and z, and these branch-line terminals provide contact portions d, e and 7, which lie in an upper plane diagonally opposite the contact portions of the cross-bars m, 'y and 2, so that the switch blades 1, 2 and 3 may establish electrical connection diagonally across the intervening space.

The switch mechanism is mounted directly on the base-board A, as by means of the side standards 5 and 6, and the axis 4 of the switch blades is pivoted in these side standards, and a spring 7 is arranged so as normally to-urge the switch blades 1, 2 and 3 into their open circuit positions. By means of a handle G the mechanism may be set to lock the switch blades diagonally into direct contact with the branch line terminals and the cross-bars, respectively; preferably by means of a toggle mechanism forming a component part of the switch mechanism. Thus, the handle is secured to a swinging yoke 8, which is carried by the pivots 9 and 10 mounted on the standards '5 and 6. This yoke also provides an arm 11 which provides a pin 12 in its outer end, and this pin in turn actuates a bell crank 13 also mounted on the pivot 10. A toggle link 16 is also mounted by one of its ends upon the pivot 10 and is connected at its opposite end by a pivot pin 17 to a second toggle link 14c which in turn is connected with the actuating arm 15 of the switch blade proper. This switch mechanism is substantially the same as that described in my copending application No. 42,956, filed July 31, 1915. The bell crank 13 provides opposing spaced shoulders 18 and 19 arranged to engage the knee of the toggle to throw the toggle into either of its extreme positions, the space between the shoulders providing the necessary lost motion whereby to enable the toggle to shift freely. Thus, as shown by Fig. 2, the toggle is slightly over its dead center position, the further overthrow being prevented by a contact of the pin 17 against the end of the curved slot. Likewise, when the toggle is broken the switch is held in'its inoperative position by an impact of said pin against the upper end of this slot.

It will be observed that this switch mechanism as a whole is supported on the baseboard A and that the same is covered entirely, including all live parts, by means of a cover plate H thereby creating a very safe organization.

The carrier for the switch blades is made up of a pair of clamp plates, as 20 and 21, having the parts 4 fixed between their end portions and extending therefrom into bearing apertures formed in the standards. The blades 1, 2 and 3 are clamped between the plates 20 and 21 and are insulated therefrom and from each other by suitable insulating members in the same manner as fully shown and described in my copending application Serial No. 42,956.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of this invention, that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting certain features that, from the standpoint of the prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention, and therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalency of the following claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is l. A switch mechanism combining a base board, a bus bar carried by the base board, a plurality of pairs of standards uprising from the base board, the two standards of each pair being arranged one at each side of the bus bar, a plurality of switch mechanisms supported by said standards in positions bridging the bus bar at spaced points in the length of the-bus bar, and each switch mechanism including a switch blade operable to move into and out of engagement with the bus bar at spaced points in the length of the bus bar and operating handles for the switch mechanisms arranged at the same side of the base board.

2. A switch mechanism combining a base board, a bus bar carried by the base board, a plurality of pairs of standards uprising from the base board the two standards of each pair being arranged one at each side of the longitudinal plane of the bus bar, a plurality of switch mechanisms extending between and supported by said standards spaced above the base board, said switch mechanisms including switch "blades operable to move into and out of engagement with the bus bar at spaced points in the length of the bus bar, and operating handles for the switch mechanisms also at the same side of the base board.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

HUBER-T F. KRANTZ. Witnesses C. S. DORAN, MABEL CLARK. 

